Heifer International is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with some form of disability.

 

 

Since 1944, Heifer International has empowered over 46 million smallholder farmer families globally to overcome hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. Our new goal is to close the Sustainable Living Income gap for 10 million more households by 2030.

 

Heifer Ethiopia’s contribution to the Global 10 million households target is to help 1,000,000 of Heifer Africa’s 6.745 million households achieve sustainable living income by 2030. Heifer Ethiopia’s maiden Signature Program, focusing on dairy, poultry, small ruminants and horticulture, will set the pace.

 

 

Reporting directly to the Africa Senior Vice President, the position will be responsible for shaping and leading the execution of the country strategy, fostering meaningful long-term sustainable business development partnerships and growth, while embodying and leading with our Heifer Africa Values/Value-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) approach. The role will also ensure Country Operational Excellence and Culture change to deliver Sustainable Locally Led Development (SLLD) in Ethiopia’s Signature Programming.

 

The role will provide effective leadership and drive team spirit to build a high-performing country team that delivers sustainable, permanent, scalable impact and results through long-term partnerships in a diverse environment. In addition, the role holder should also inspire and empower employees to bring their best selves to work each day, fostering a culture of trust, collaboration, and excellence.

 

The position holder will be a visionary servant leader, a highly self-aware leader of leaders with a proven track record of leading people and organizations through evolutionary change. He/she will possess a master’s degree with 15 years of senior leadership experience, ten (10) of which will have demonstrable diverse and multicultural team development in the development sector, inspiring teams to action with Sustainable Locally Led Development (SLLD) and impact.

The successful candidate will preferably have professional experience in agribusiness and/or community development in a matrix structure. To meet the diverse needs of this role, he/she will have solid experience in the market systems development approach, strong business acumen/entrepreneurial leadership, relationship building, and possess high standards of integrity and accountability. Experience leading and co-designing programs in partnerships with bilateral, multilateral, and government organizations is critical.

  

 

• Lead the strategic vision for Heifer International at the country level under the Africa Regional priorities and align it with government and donor priorities.
• In collaboration with the Regional Office, lead the Country Office's annual business planning process.
• Ensure the cascade of the country business plans, monitoring and reviewing performance against business plans for successful delivery (e.g., monitoring and delivering on burn rate targets in a nimble and agile way).
• In collaboration with the New Business Development Teams, ensure the development and implementation of new business strategies with full landscape analysis.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and funder priorities in the region.
• Lead proposal development initiatives in collaboration with the Business Development Team to build winning proposals.
• In partnership with Signature Program leaders, work to identify and deploy capital investments across the signature programs.
• Ensure handshake with the Signature Program Technical Lead in-country to facilitate onward co-designing of the Signature Program in line with agreed partnership proposals/agreements.
• Provide technical and strategic support to broaden access to agribusiness finance in Heifer International Ethiopia Accelerator Programs and liaise with Heifer Impact Capital (HIC) and other critical stakeholders (development partners, equity investors, etc.) to drive the Access to Finance strategic framework for Heifer International Ethiopia.
• Commission market-based, demand-driven value chain studies to build the signature programs within the country.

 

 

• Establish effective shared leadership: set up a Country Shared Leadership Team, promoting cross-functional collaboration and shared decision-making.
• Shared decision-making processes: design and implement frameworks for collective decision-making, ensuring that decisions reflect input from relevant stakeholders at all levels.
• Role clarification: ensure role clarity for the leadership team, responsibilities, accountabilities, and areas of ownership, ensuring that authority is distributed appropriately across functions and power balanced.
• Leadership circles/committees: establish and coordinate cross-functional leadership circles or working groups to address specific strategic issues or projects.
• Foster a culture of shared leadership from frontline to leadership within the inverted organogram culture: work closely with the shared leadership team to embed shared leadership values into the organizational culture through training, communication, and role modeling.
• Capacity building: develop and implement leadership development programs to enhance skills related to collaboration, communication, conflict resolution, and decision-making within a shared leadership framework.
• Team building initiatives: organize team-building exercises to foster trust, collaboration, and a sense of collective ownership within the leadership team and across departments.
• Facilitate open communication channels: establish and maintain effective communication platforms (e.g., regular leadership meetings, online tools, feedback mechanisms) to promote transparency and ensure information flows across leadership levels.

 

 

• Champion a culture of operational excellence by fostering a collaborative environment that values innovation, continuous improvement, and the pursuit of best practices.
• Lead and embed the Heifer Africa Values/Value-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) approach in the country office.
• Ensure country operational excellence and culture change to deliver Sustainable Locally Led Development (SLLD) in Ethiopia’s Signature Programming.
• Foster a culture of continuous organizational learning by actively seeking out and embracing new ideas, technologies, and methodologies.
• Establish and maintain a robust risk management framework, including the identification, analysis, and mitigation of legal and compliance risks.
• Oversee the fiduciary responsibilities of the organization, ensuring sound financial management, transparency, and accountability in accordance with established policies and regulatory standards.
• Facilitate/enable Signature Program leaders to deliver quality programs aligned with Heifer’s model, using the IPMS to monitor and ensure program quality.

 

• Effective management of Board matters, including timely submission of Board packs, keeping within Board agenda, ensuring adherence to regulatory board requirements.
• Enhance Heifer’s public presence by building strategic partnerships with stakeholders such as public and private sector institutions, non-governmental organizations, donors, and other development agencies.
• Lead in enhancing Heifer's value proposition for internal and external audiences.
• Position Heifer as a thought leader by leading creative and innovative initiatives on thematic issues such as livestock, agriculture, livelihoods, women, and youth.

 

 

• May perform other job-related duties as assigned.

 

 

• Master’s Degree from a recognized university or equivalent in Social Sciences or Business Administration.
• Minimum of 15 years of relevant experience with at least ten (10) years in a supervisory capacity. Fluent in English and local language(s), both spoken and written.
• Demonstrated knowledge of working with major funders such as USAID, DFID, IFAD, AFDB, FAO, etc.
• Proven professional experience and results in agribusiness or community development is highly desirable.
• Proven experience in representing the organization effectively at high-level partner and stakeholder engagements.
• Demonstrated success in new business or project development, including a track record of achieving impact and results.